According to Michigan Daily, police were called around 4 p.m. Friday, January 16 and investigated reports that the teen threatened to harm people at the campus with a firearm, though no weapon was found when officers searched the suspect’s home.

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The Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office charged the teen with one felony count of terroristic threats and one misdemeanor count for making school threats. A $250,000 bond was requested, along with a GPS tether to prevent the suspect from returning to school property if he is released. A no-trespass order now bars the individual from all Ann Arbor Public Schools. Police confirmed the teen acted alone and is currently receiving treatment at a mental health facility.

East Lansing Catholic school closed temporarily after multiple incidents.

In a separate situation, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish School in East Lansing closed on January 9 after three security incidents occurred over one week. As we previously reported, one of those incidents included a man who was seen outside the building looking in before fleeing.

Warning signs aren’t hypothetical anymore.

Viewed collectively, these incidents underscore a hard reality: school security threats are happening more and more. From written threats to individuals lingering outside buildings and surveying entrances, warning signs are increasingly visible and should be taken seriously before situations escalate. Schools cannot afford to dismiss behavior that looks like casing, reconnaissance, or testing boundaries – particularly when it happens during student arrival, dismissal, or other vulnerable moments.

Yet according to reporting from Campus Safety Magazine, many districts are devoting significant time and resources to preparing for highly unlikely immigration enforcement scenarios, while everyday security risks continue to surface on school grounds. Focusing too much on ICE-related memos and checklists for events that will most likely never happen pulls attention away from more urgent needs – like watching school grounds, training staff to spot suspicious behavior, and responding quickly when someone is seen watching, circling, or fleeing school property.

Most schools already have safety frameworks in place. Nationwide, the vast majority maintain plans for active shooters, bomb threats, and other emergencies, and many operate threat-assessment teams designed to identify potential violence early. The challenge now is not the absence of policies, but attention and execution. When warning signs appear – a threatening note, a stranger peering into classrooms, someone testing access points – those signals must be treated as urgent security matters and a call to reassess security protocols in order to keep kids safe. Prevention depends on recognizing threats before they turn into headlines.